(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method for manufacturing an axle component.
(2) Description of Related Art
Traditionally, axle components such as wheel suspension arms are produced by various manufacturing methods. Examples of such manufacturing methods are casting, forging or welding. Furthermore, there is so-called hydroforming (internal high pressure forming, IHPF), wherein a hollow or tubular part is exposed to liquid pressure, so that the wall of the hollow part lies against a negative mold. However, this method suffers from the drawback that the hollow part has to be preformed and should only have a wall thickness of up to 2.5 mm in order for the hydroforming process (internal high pressure forming, IHPF) to be performed successfully. Furthermore, as a rule, a heat treatment must follow the preforming, in order to restore the material properties for the actual hydroforming process.
Accordingly, each of the traditional manufacturing methods for the production of an axle component with a relatively complex shape has the drawback of requiring many process steps in order to make the axle component. As a result, the costs are high for the production of the axle component.